GRIFFINS (5-5-0-1) at Manitoba Moose (6-5-0-0)

Griffins Game #12 * Road Game #7 * AHL Game #180

Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 56-28-1-1-7 All-Time Home Series: 29-12-1-1-5 All-Time Road Series: 27-16-0-0-2

Griffins at Moose
First of eight meetings overall, first of four at Bell MTS Place…Manitoba, making its first postseason appearance since rejoining the AHL in 2015-16, defeated Grand Rapids in a decisive Game 5 of the Central Division Semifinals last spring to end the Griffins’ run of five straight seasons advancing to at least the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs…Grand Rapids returns 12 players who participated in last spring’s playoff clash…Last season’s postseason matchup marked the fourth time the teams met in the Calder Cup Playoffs, with Manitoba winning three of those series…Grand Rapids and Manitoba have met 93 times in the regular season since 1996-97, when both were members of the International Hockey League…Grand Rapids finished 6-2 against Manitoba during the regular season in 2017-18…Since the Moose rejoined the AHL in 2015-16 following a four-year hiatus, the Griffins are 12-4 against their Central Division counterpart, including 6-2 at Bell MTS Place…The Griffins have won five straight regular season meetings overall against the Moose and outscored them 18-5 in that stretch…Dating to an April 5, 2017, overtime win in Winnipeg, the Griffins have won five consecutive regular season contests at Manitoba and outscored them 16-4…In the regular season, Grand Rapids has not allowed a goal at Bell MTS Place since the 0:53 mark of the first period on Jan. 10, 2018, a scoreless streak of 179:07…Defenseman Dylan McIlrath hails from Winnipeg…Dominic Turgeon recorded his first career hat trick at Manitoba on Feb. 17, 2018…Axel Holmstrom made his AHL debut at Manitoba on April 4, 2017, and scored his first AHL goal (overtime) at the Moose on April 5, 2017.

Last Game (Sunday): Griffins 8 at Monsters 4
After falling behind 4-2 at the 0:28 mark of the third period, Grand Rapids scored six unanswered goals…The eight-goal total is Grand Rapids’ highest-scoring game since tallying nine at Rockford on Feb. 5, 2016…Including this game’s output, the Griffins have scored 20 goals in their last three meetings with Cleveland (six on Feb. 4, 2018 and six on April 14, 2018)…The six goals scored in the third period was one shy of the franchise record for most goals in a period (seven at Chicago on Nov. 27, 2010)…As a team, Grand Rapids finished with a +35 rating and was led by Joe Hicketts’ +4…Filip Zadina and Dominik Shine both contributed two goals…Christoffer Ehn collected his second straight multi-point game with two assists…Turner Elson (0-2—2), Joe Hicketts (0-2—2), Carter Camper (1-1—2) and Chris Terry (1-1—2) also added two-point efforts…Givani Smith picked up his first pro point while assisting on Shine’s first goal…13 of 18 skaters notched at least a point.

Status Update
The Griffins have points in four consecutive games (3-0-0-1) and have evened up their record at 5-5-0-1. Grand Rapids took five out of a possible six points during last weekend’s three-in-three. The Griffins make their second trip of the season to Canada this week as they face the Manitoba Moose tonight and Saturday.

Connect Four
The Griffins are on a season-high four-game point streak (3-0-0-1). After edging out Belleville on Oct. 27 to begin the run, Grand Rapids went toe-to-toe with three of the top teams in the league last weekend to continue its good fortune. The Griffins battled Iowa to a 3-2 shootout loss last Friday, handed Milwaukee only its second regulation loss of the season the next night, and poured in six unanswered third-period goals to take down Cleveland on Sunday. At the time of each individual matchup, Iowa tied for fifth in the Western Conference, Milwaukee led the league in points and Cleveland placed fourth in the Eastern Conference.

No Shots For You
Grand Rapids has surrendered more than 30 shots just twice through the season’s first 11 games and ties for fourth in the AHL in shots against (26.3). The Griffins have outshot eight of 11 opponents so far.

Road Reversal
After dropping their first four road games and being outscored 17-5 in that stretch, the Griffins have won back-to-back contests on foreign ice with an 11-5 scoring edge.

Homer Run
Skating in his second full season in North America, Axel Holmstrom had his career-high six game point streak ended in last Saturday’s win. He notched the game-winning goal in Sunday’s come-from-behind triumph at Cleveland and has points in seven of the last eight games (4-3—7). The 196th overall selection in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, Holmstrom ties for fourth on the team in scoring with seven points.

Pick Ehn Up Points
Skating in his first season in North America, Christoffer Ehn has collected back-to-back multi-point outings. He generated his first North American pro goal and added an assist in last Saturday’s win vs. Milwaukee and provided a pair of assists on Sunday at Cleveland. Detroit’s third choice, 106th overall, in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Ehn has one assist in 10 games with the Red Wings this season. He was recalled by the Wings on Tuesday, skated in that night’s 3-2 shootout victory against Vancouver, and then was assigned back to Grand Rapids yesterday. By appearing in Tuesday’s game, Ehn became the 173rd Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL.

Happy Camper
Behind a goal and an assist effort on Sunday, first-year Griffin Carter Camper has overtaken Matt Puempel for the team scoring lead with nine points (2-7—9). The eighth-year pro has points in five of his last six outings.

Puemped Up
Second-year Griffin Matt Puempel ties for second on the club in points (4-4—8) and his three multi-point outings tie with Carter Camper for the team’s most.

Terr-ing It Up
The AHL’s leading scorer from a season ago, Chris Terry has three goals among four points in the last four games. His five markers are tops on the squad.

Z-Score
The sixth overall selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, Filip Zadina banked his second multi-goal game in 11 games in Sunday’s win. He ties for second on the team in goals (4) and fourth in points (7). The 18-year-old is the highest Red Wings draft pick ever to suit up for the Griffins. Only three players in Griffins history were drafted higher than No. 6: Jason Spezza (No. 2 by Ottawa in 2001), Darrin Shannon (No. 4 by Pittsburgh in 1988) and Stephen Weiss (No. 4 by Florida in 2001). Dylan Larkin (selected 15th overall in the 2014 Draft) was the previous highest Red Wings draft selection to play for Grand Rapids.

Add Rybar for Support
Goaltender Patrik Rybar (pronounced REE-bar) has points in his last two starts (1-0-1), showing a 1.44 GAA and a 0.932 save percentage in that span. He picked up his first victory on North American soil in his second career start on Oct. 27 in Belleville after stopping 21 of 22 shots. The 24-year-old led the Czech Extraliga in both GAA (1.73) and shutouts (7) in 36 games with Hradec Kralove last season.

Similar Sateri
Goaltender Harri Sateri has won three of his last four starts after dropping three of his first four to begin the campaign. This follows a similar trend from last season for Sateri when he was with Springfield, as he opened the year with five consecutive losses before claiming his next five outings.

This Date in Griffins History
2009: Cory Emmerton and Jeremy Williams record two goals apiece to lead the Griffins to an 8-6 come-from-behind victory at Lake Erie, extending Grand Rapids’ winning streak to seven games.
2013: The first-place Griffins score four times in a 1:13 span of the second period on their way to a 6-1 victory at Hamilton. Grand Rapids improves to 7-0-1-1 away from Van Andel Arena, marking the best road start in franchise history.
2017: Trailing 4-2 against one of the AHL’s early-season powers, the Griffins roar back with five unanswered goals over the final 29 minutes to wrest a 7-4 victory from San Antonio in their annual matinee game at Van Andel Arena.

Photo by Sam Iannamico